With a terrible service recordand 22 turnovers that led to 27 points from their rivalsLos Angeles Lakers, sin LeBron James, They couldn’t beat the Minnesota Timberwolves who won 97-87 from their defense this Friday.
Solo three wins in the last eleven games The Lakers (13-12) have more and more doubts and are very far from that exciting start to the campaign that now seems like a mirage.
LeBron did not travel to Minneapolis and was sidelined due to discomfort in his left foot and for personal reasons. Counting the NBA Cup break and as long as he returned this Sunday, ‘King James’ I would rest eight full days from the loss in Atlanta on December 6 to the duel on the 15th against Memphis.
Against the Wolves (13-11), the Lakers never gave up but between their endless turnovers, His worrying mistake in shooting and the sharp defense of his rivals on the night was an impossible mission.
Anthony Davis (23 points and 11 rebounds) was the top scorer for the Lakers without aim with 38.4% in field goals and 28.6% in triples (10 of 35).
Austin Reaves, in his return after two weeks away, contributed 18 points and 6 rebounds. Max Christie started and added 15 points.
For Minnesota, who He has won five of his last six games limiting their opponents to 92 points or less in their victories, Anthony Edwards (23 points and 6 rebounds) and a motivated Julius Randle against his former team (21 points) were the most productive.
Jaden McDaniels (18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals) and Rudy Gobert (12 points and 13 rebounds) also stood out in the Wolves with a broken offense (40.2% in field goals and 28.1% in triples) but powerful from their intense defensive pressure.
Losses and more losses
Against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, whoand it already left them less than two weeks ago at a paltry 80 points, The Lakers shot themselves in the foot with a very clumsy and sloppy first quarter of no less than 11 turnovers.
Those gifts from the Lakers were all the Wolves needed to dominate the first period 32-23. 16 points for the locals came precisely after those 11 losses by the visitors.
Minnesota’s offense got bogged down with a second unit and took almost six minutes to get its first basket of the second quarter.
But the Lakers, Although they took the opportunity to reduce the margin, they were not able to turn the score around either.. With 50-44 at halftime, Minnesota was guided by Randle (15 points) and McDaniels (13) while Davis (14) was the top scorer for an Los Angeles team with 14 losses at halftime.
Edwards broke loose after the restart, scored 11 points in the third quarter and propelled the Wolves who were very close to breaking the game with a +17.
However, those in purple and gold had no arguments for a comeback but they were enough to not throw the game away early, so they arrived alive in the last quarter with a 77-66 lead.
In a constant I want and I can’t, They were only 5 points away with two and a half minutes left thanks to a triple by Davis. But the next play was the perfect summary of the Lakers’ unfortunate evening.
Mike Conley missed a three-pointer and the defensive rebound went to the Lakers, but Randle stole Rui Hachimura’s wallet and the ball ended up in McDaniels, who scored a very simple basket to leave the Wolves’ victory practically resolved.